


Maybe It's Not So Bad

by DarkHell616



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Chubby Reader, Comfort, F/M, Magic, POV First Person, Reader Insert, Self-Esteem Issues, Weight Gain, Witches, body issues, curse, insecure reader, plus sized reader, spells, unnamed narrator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2021-04-10
Packaged: 2021-04-18 16:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 13,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21824605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkHell616/pseuds/DarkHell616
Summary: Old insecurities resurface when a hunter is hit with a spell by the resident witch she and the Winchesters were searching for.
Relationships: Dean Winchester/ Original Female Character(s) (Platonic), Dean Winchester/Reader (Platonic), Sam Winchester/Original Female Character(s), Sam Winchester/Reader
Comments: 25
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know where I'm going with this, but it was stuck in my head and here we are.  
Who knows if it'll even go further than this.

I stared into the mirror in horror, my throat beginning to ache as my eyes started to water.

This couldn’t be happening.

Of all curses I could have been hit with, it had to be this one.

How was I going to face the Winchesters now?

The horrified looks on their faces crossed my mind and made my bottom lip begin to quiver as I ran my hands over myself as if I could somehow just brush away the rounded stomach, wide hips and rolls that were accentuated by the now too-tight tank top and shorts I had gone to bed in the night before.

I wasn’t entirely sure why I was so worried about their reactions, the brothers were typically rather accepting of all kinds and yet, the thought of facing them as a heavy woman made my adrenaline spike with nerves and my stomach feel like it was full of lead.

They were accepting, but I’d never really considered their reaction to plus sized people.

I’d never had to before.

Prodding at my pudgier cheeks, my mind filters in horrible comments they could make as tears roll down my face.

The tips of my fingers poke and prod down my cheeks to my chin and I soon find myself sobbing.

All the years I had worked so hard to lose what I had lost as a teen and now, thanks to a bitch of a spellcaster, I was back to square one.

It was a stupid reaction logically, I could find a way to break this curse, it’s what we did, but in the moment, I felt nothing but hopeless, sick and exhausted as the torment of my teen years flashed back to me.

The few comments here and there that had stuck with me, the hardcore dieting which had led me to the strict dietary habits I still had to this day, the exercising when my body was past the point of it being healthy and it became more obsessive.

All to lead up to this point where I was reverted back, as if I hadn’t pushed myself ridiculously, unhealthily even.

Who had even heard of a fat hunter anyway?

A sob finally breaks out and I covered my mouth, stepping away from the mirror to rush out of the bathroom and find something to cover my stomach and flabbier arms.

Not that I was likely to find anything that’d fit comfortably in my duffel.

I’d be lucky if anything was ‘a little tight’ at best.

Dropping to the floor beside my bed, I hastily pull out my bag from underneath while taking deep, shuddering breaths to try and calm down my embarrassing crying.

Ripping the bag open, I desperately pull out everything in hopes of finding something that would at least fit well enough to cover until I could go into town and buy some cheap temporary outfits.

Finally, I managed to find the leggings that I knew were inside.

With a little, sobbed laugh of triumph, I stand up and push my way out of the shorts and underwear I was wearing before tugging on the leggings and wiggling them up to my hips.

Once I let go on the waistband, I found that I had to pull them to sit above my hips rather than around them as they dug in too tightly and podged my stomach over the top uncomfortably.

I was also quick to notice just how much I was going to need some new unmentionables, sure, I had gone commando before but with leggings this tight? There was no way I could even dream of pulling it off for too long in these things.

Kicking my discarded clothes to one side, I somehow managed to squeeze my way out of my tank top and then grabbed my usual jacket, pulling it on and doing it up as best as I could. The zipper only just managed to give my chest some modesty, but it was better than nothing.

Good thing I typically wore baggier jackets.

Once getting dress was out of the way, I dropped onto my bed and worked on calming myself down.

It took a few minutes of slow and deep breaths, but eventually I managed to settle my panic to the point where I could think a little clearer and my hands weren’t shaking with adrenaline.

“Okay,” I mumbled to myself, fiddling with the sleeves of my jacket, “okay, just pack your things, text Sam to say you have to go, get in your car and leave. That’s easy enough.”

With a nod of affirmation to myself, I slipped off the bed and back onto my knees to grab my bag and begin stuffing everything I had discarded across the floor into it, uncaring of having it packed neatly or not.

The only things I did set in there with some care were my weapons, my laptop and my books.

After grabbing the few toiletries I had in the bathroom and throwing them into the bag, I zip it up and set it onto the bed, then grab my phone from the bedside table.

“Just a quick text and then I’m out of here until this is sorted,” I continued murmuring, talking myself through my own plan.

Dropping onto the bed, I hastily unlock my phone, getting the code wrong about three times in the process, and load up my message app while worrying my lip between my teeth, thinking over how I could word the message without making his hunter instinct kick in with worry.

I managed to find the right words and had my finger fluidly running across the keyboard, the message was already halfway typed out when a loud knock came at the door and made me freeze mid-word.

Sitting stock still in my spot, I stared at the door with narrowed eyes as if it were somehow to blame for my interruption, my lungs burning for new air as I instinctively held my breath.

Another, slightly harder knock came again, this time accompanied with a muffled call of my name.

“Shit,” I hissed through my teeth, “Sam.”

My eyes flickered to the clock on my phone and I let out a quiet noise of irritation in the back of my throat.

In my panic, I had failed to notice just how close it was to the time that Sam would typically return from his morning jog and that meant, as per routine, he would be coming to get me for breakfast, which we usually either went out to get or he’d bring to me.

Before I could even register what I was doing, I gently called out; “I’m up Sam,” and then winced at the fact that I had even answered.

“Great,” I can hear the small smile on his face.

There’s a moment of pause before the door handle rattles.

“Uh, you want to let me in?”

“No! Not yet, I’m…just out of the shower.”

“Okay, is everything okay?”

“Fine! I’m fine, everything is fine.”

I close my eyes and shake my head, mentally cursing at myself for suddenly becoming such a terrible liar.

“Right, well you might want to get dressed quickly, I’ve got pancakes.”

As if on cue, my stomach gave a growl.

Curse him, knowing Sam he’d bought my favourite kind and I was getting hungry, my plan was already falling to pieces before my very eyes.

“Damn it, you know I can’t resist pancakes.”

“I know.”

He laughed, making my stomach flip a little.

“So, gonna let me in or should I leave them outside your door?”

Tilting my head back, I let out a long sigh and stare at the ceiling, puffing out my cheeks as I think everything over.

Did I really want him to see me?

I guess in that moment, I’d rather it was Sam than it was Dean.

Just for the comfort factor, Sam would probably be more sympathetic while Dean would try, but he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from cracking a few jokes.

There was no use making an excuse now, he was up and about and soon Dean would be too, so trying to throw myself into the car and high-tailing it out of there would surely result in creating more of a scene than I wanted and gaining at least one of their attentions.

There was nothing for it, I’d have to bite the bullet and ask for help.

“Alright,” I sighed, dropping my phone onto the bed and slowly getting up, “but you need to be prepared for this.”

“For what? Seeing you in a towel or half dressed? That wouldn’t be anything new.”

“Trust me, Sam,” I frowned, slowly making my way to the door, “everything about this will be new.”

There was another short pause before he replied, “Now you’re worrying me.”

“It’s nothing to ‘worry’ about, as such.”

Once I reached the door, I leaned against the wall beside it and stared at the lock, hesitantly reaching for the key with a shake of my head.

“It’s just…you know that witch we’re after?”

“Of course, the while reason we’re here.”

“Yeah, well, it seems she hit me with something after all.”

“She did? Shit. Are you okay?”

“All in all, yes, but…well…you’ll see, I guess.”

Chewing on my lip, I slid the key into the lock and twisted it before I lost all of my nerve and chickened out.

Taking a deep breath, I grasped onto the handle and opened the door just far enough for me to be visible to him in the doorway.

Sam looked down at me, his smile contorting into a look of shock as his eyebrow raised and his mouth hung open a little.

I had to look away as he scanned me from head to toe, fighting the urge to slam the door closed and lock myself away until the curse was broken and that bitch was dead.

Wrapping my arms around myself as if that would somehow hide everything from him, I feel my cheeks burn as tears spring to my eyes once again.

I was speechless and could only stand there as he continued to stare.

Eventually, after what felt like far too long, he cleared his throat and shifted his feet.

“Well, this’ll definitely take more than burning a hex bag to fix.”


	2. Chapter 2

“And that’s it? Nothing else seemed off?”

I looked at Sam, lowering my next forkful of pancakes and shaking my head.

“If there had been anything amiss, you bet your ass I would have immediately messaged you but everything seemed pretty average.”

Sam nodded slowly, his brows furrowing in thought as he stared at the table sitting between us, his own pancakes left forgotten in the styrofoam takeaway container.

“So,” I start once my next mouthful is finished, setting the fork down beside my now empty container, “what do we do from here?”

He lifted his eyes to meet mine, pulled from his thinking and looking as if he had momentarily forgot I was even there in the first place.

Eventually, he shrugged.

“I guess we continue on as normal.”

“Normal?” My voice came out shriller than I intended, my eyes widening. “How can we go on as ‘normal’? What about any of this is normal?”

“None of it, but it’s also not the weirdest thing we’ve encountered, we’ll fix it.”

I stared at him, my face a painting of embarrassed mortification.

“How can you be so calm about this?”

“Because you’re freaking out enough for the both of us and at least of us need to be level-headed about things.”

Leaning back in my seat, I crossed my arms over my chest, narrowed my eyes and pursed my lips, glaring at him.

“I begrudgingly concede your point.”

Sam let out a huffed laugh and shook his head with a smile.

“I just thought you might.”

I rolled my eyes and began to drum my fingers against my arm, pulling my lips to one side as my leg begins to bounce under the table.

“So what’s our next move? We find the witch, make her break this curse and then fry her ass?”

“Or, alternatively, we get you some decent fitting clothes, then find the witch before she can hurt anyone else.”

“As long as I get to fry the bitch for what she’s done, I’m happy.”

Sam smiled wryly then sat up straighter in his seat, reaching to pull his phone out of his jacket pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“Telling Dean to come over.”

“What? No! Sam, I’m not ready.”

He gives me a look over his phone, his eyebrow quirked just a little.

“It’s only a matter of time until he comes to check on us anyway, he can probably hear us through the wall.”

“If he isn’t too busy sawing logs.”

“If he is, then we’ll head into town for when the stores open and catch him up when we get back.”

I nodded slowly and Sam continued writing his message.

As I watched, I tried to calm the growing nerves in my stomach and swallow that lump that was rising into my throat once again.

My leg continued to bounce rapidly and I found myself chewing the sleeve of my jacket, not a common habit but one that I found myself doing subconsciously. I’d zipped up the jacket further once Sam had entered the room and the collar was now pulled up to my bottom lip, my mind wanting to hide everything from my nose below.

Even as a teen, I had found that I could deal with seeing myself from the lips up, I liked my eyes, my lips, my hair and, weirdly enough, my eyebrows. Sure, my nose could do with some work but for the most part I was okay with my face, but the fear of people seeing my chin double when I looked down always sparked a bout of self-consciousness.

So, it became a habit to pull my collar up to shield myself.

Old habits apparently died hard.

Every so often, Sam’s eyes would flicker to me and he would give me something of a reassuring smile, the kindness in his eyes making my heart jolt and stomach flutter every time and I prayed that it didn’t show on my face.

How he managed to stay such a sweetheart over the years of shit they’d had to deal with was both surprising and admirable, not that he couldn’t be ruthless when he had to be, but his default seemed to be the comforter between the two brothers.

I must had drifted off for a moment while staring at Sam’s phone as I was pulled out of my reverie when I felt a warm hand gently pull my sleeve away from my face and squeeze it comfortingly.

When I looked up at him, I see that same sympathetic and comforting expression he would give to the victim’s families when he was talking to them, hoping to pry out information without making them too upset.

“Hey, you’ll be okay,” he said, giving me a gentle look.

I give a scoffed laugh and a wavering smile as I shook my head.

“That’s okay for you to say, you don’t look like this.”

“No, but it could be worse, at least you’re not being forced into a gameshow that wants to stop you from having kids.”

The pained grimace he gave at the memory made me laugh and roll my eyes a little.

“If the life didn’t stop you, that certainly would.”

“Exactly and you still have your lungs, so all in all, it’s not that bad.”

Sighing through my nose, I twist my hand to grasp onto his fingers and start gently running my fingertips up and down them.

“Oddly enough, that isn’t very comforting, but thank you all the same.”

Letting go of his hand, I pushed the chair back and stood up, picking up my empty container.

Sam finally picked up his fork and started to eat while I threw my trash away and washed the fork in the small kitchenette in the corner of the room.

“How long do we have until the shops open?”

I glanced over my shoulder as Sam checked the time on his phone.

“About forty-five minutes.”

“Great, I’ll be back in about twenty.”

“Where are you going?”

Setting the cutlery to once side, I wiped my hands off on my jacket then headed to the bathroom.

“To take the best shower I can with my eyes closed.”


	3. Chapter 3

Sam pulled my car up in the parking lot after an embarrassing shopping trip.

My spatial awareness was out of whack and I knew that I would end up developing a nice, hefty bruise on at the least one of my hips by the end of the day with the way I kept bumping into the corner of tables that were the perfect height to meet my rounder, wider hips.

A few times, Sam had managed to save me from a particularly pointy looking edge.

If he’d noticed that I was lingering too close to one, he would reach out and place his hand on my hip, gently nudging me away and giving my new bit of plumpness a squeeze.

This would usually be accompanied with a gentle; “Careful,” and each time it made my heart flutter just a little.

I’d always managed to mumble back a distracted, “Thank you,” while trying to ignore how his large hand lingered on occasion.

It was ridiculous, I felt like I was back in school yet again, with both the schoolgirl crush and the body size.

We managed to find a few outfits to last me a couple of days, including a smart enough business suit on the off chance that I needed to Fed-up before this was resolved.

A silence fell between us as the engine stopped its purr, the air slightly tense as I stared towards the door of the room the brothers were staying in, worrying my lip between my teeth as I fiddled with the buttons of the flannel shirt I’d bought.

“Are you still nervous about seeing Dean?”

I glanced towards Sam, who was looking at me with brows furrowed in concern, and eventually nodded, taking a deep breath.

“It’s stupid, I know, I don’t even know why I am but I am.”

“You’re definitely overthinking this, it’ll be fine.”

“Will you stop saying that?” I snapped, shaking my head with a scoffed laugh.

“Sorry,” he replied disingenuously, “look, I’ll message Dean and give him a heads up before we go in.”

I nodded and turned to look out of the window, my leg bouncing as nerves started to churn my gut as he typed out the message.

It wasn’t a long one and yet it felt like his typing went on forever.

My hands were lying in my lap as I fiddled with my fingers, my led bouncing getting worse before I turned to Sam, who had just sent his text and was tucking his phone away again.

“I’m sorry for snapping.”

“It’s okay, I get it, it’s a stressful time for you.”

I could only nod silently in reply, my eyes shifting back to their motel room just in time to see the curtains flutter a little which set a stone of dread in my stomach.

Dean must have looked out of the window out of curiosity or to steel himself for the heft I was about to walk in with, neither was a particularly comforting thought.

“I don’t know if I can go in there.”

“Why? It’s just Dean, I know you’re worried about him making snide remarks but I’m sure he’ll be cool about it, he knows you’re upset.”

“I know, Sam, I know but,” I licked my bottom lip and shook my head, “I can’t help it, come on, even you can get how insecurity works, I can tell myself I’m being stupid as often as I want but my brain will still believe otherwise, it’s so frustrating.”

My eyes were starting to burn again and my throat constricted, which only increased my frustration. I was fed up of worrying, being close to crying at the drop of a hat and feeling that I had to hide myself from two of my closest friends, all because some witch couldn’t control her hissy fit about being confronted for hurting people.

Dean was right, witches were the worst.

A large hand clasped onto my thigh, the fingers giving the best squeeze they could through the thigh hugging skirt I was still wearing.

When I look back to him, Sam gives me a comforting smile and gives my thigh a couple of pats.

“Look, no one is forcing you to come inside straight away,” he glanced towards the motel room, “I’ll head inside and you take whatever time you need to collect yourself, alright?”

For the first time in a while, ignoring how faint it was, I returned his smile and nodded, placing my smaller hand over his and giving it a slow rub.

“Thank you, Sam, you’re way too good to be putting up with my shit.”

He laughed and shrugged, tilting his head a little.

“You’ve helped me through worse over the years, I think it’s only fair I make up for it without having to save your life in the meantime.”

“That would make a change, at this point saving each other’s lives is getting boring.”

“I know,” he rubbed my thigh then opened the door, lifting out one of his too-long legs, “I’ll see you inside when you’re ready, yeah?”

I nodded, “I’ll try to not be too long.”

“No rush.”

The car shifted as he stepped out and closed the door, my eyes trailed after him as he walked to the motel door and disappeared inside.

With a long sigh, I leaned back in my faux-leather seat and rested my hands in my lap while trying to control my bouncing leg.

“It’ll be fine, everything will be fine.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Go ahead, I’m ready for it.”

Dean gave me a perplexed look, his eyes briefly glancing me over before he shrugged.

“You look fine to me, nothing wrong with an extra bit of cushion.”

I had to supress the urge to roll my eyes, though I did feel like a weight had lifted from my shoulders and a natural smile came to me.

“You’re just saying that to be nice, but thanks.”

“Hey, when do I ever say stuff I don’t mean?”

“Literally all the time?”

He stopped for a second, looking away and raising his eyebrows as if he were considering the statement before nodding.

“Okay, yeah, I’ll give you that one.”

“If you two are done flirting,” Sam interruped, his tone coming across short and abrupt, “can we maybe start figuring out how to fix this for her?”

We both turned to him, equal looks of confusion and bemusement as he looked back at us, eyes flickering back and forth.

“We weren’t flirting,” I said, “at least I wasn’t, it’d be the last thing I’d want to do right now.”

“Yeah,” Dean agreed, “I was just being honest with her but you’re right, as always, we need to focus on finding a cure, we all know a bit of weight isn’t the only thing she would have done.”

“That’s what scares me.”

Sam nodded, pulling out a chair at the table to sit down, us following his lead shortly after.

“You guys think this could be an attempt to slow us down?”

I looked to Dean, chewing on my lip a little as my leg started to bounce again.

“I don’t know,” Sam said with a light frown, “this doesn’t seem like typical witch fashion, warlock maybe as they seem to like messing with people.”

“Every witch is different though, but you’re right, so far there’s been no signs of hex bags being involved.”

“What if it’s a bit of both?” I suggested, “them wanting to slow us down and involve us in their victimology? Everyone is always trying to kill you guys.”

“Then that begs the question, why didn’t she simply just off us if she had the chance? We were all separated at one point,” Sam replied.

“Maybe this isn’t purely about killing,” Dean said, looking to his brother, “maybe this is about revenge.”

“And we’d be getting in the way.”

“It may explain some of the deaths too,” I nodded, “they haven’t exactly been straight forward.”

“No, not when there’s been some Ring shit,” Dean shuddered.

“Yeah, choking on hair is not how I’d want to go either.”

“Did you get a good look at her before she zapped you?”

I frowned in thought, thinking back to the previous night before slowly shaking my head.

“Sorry, all I remember is that she was short, bigger and had half her hair shaved.”

“That could narrow down our search,” Sam said, “at least it’s something to go on, do you remember if she said anything?”

“Not really, it all happened kind of fast, I think she yelled something close to; “You’ll all play,” before she booked it and left me there to my concussion.”

"She escaped just before I found you then," he sighed. "Wonder what she meant with play?"

"Who knows but it's a start," Dean shrugged, "it's a small town, we can try and retrace our steps from last night, see if we can figure out where she would have spotted us from."

“Sounds like a plan,” I nodded.

“Great, but first I want breakfast.”

Dean snatched up a bag that Sam had left on the table from earlier, rifling through as I stood up and grabbed the bag with my new clothes inside.

“I’ll take this moment to go and get changed, no need to be fedded up if we’re going casually strolling.”

“Okay, we’ll see you back here in twenty.”

“Will you be alright?” Sam asked, looking at me in concern.

“Yeah,” I smiled, fiddling with my sleeves, “I feel a little better now.”

“Good,” he smiled back, though it was still full of sympathy, “just give me a buzz if you need anything.”

“I’ll be gone for barely half an hour, Sam, I think I’ll manage.”

I laughed and walked out, giving a small, playful wave of dismissal.

As the door closed behind me, I let out a long sigh and looked down at the carrier full of clothes.

“At least I will as long as I can avoid my reflection.”


	5. Chapter 5

“So, anything?”

I asked while sliding into the seat next to Sam, Dean sitting opposite us with a look of dissatisfaction.

We’d called it quits around half an hour ago and text one another to arrange a retcon over dinner.

“Nothing, absolute bupkis,” he griped.

“Yeah, I can’t figure out what would have given her the jump on us,” Sam replied, “she could have spotted us at any point since we arrived.”

“And that gives us two and a half days of her tracking us while putting her plan into motion,” I frowned, chewing on my lip.

“Hopefully less, if she caught on a little later,” Sam smiled at me, probably attempting to give me a little hope knowing him.

“We can hope,” I nodded, looking at Dean then the laminated menu in his hands, “anything sound good?”

He shrugged, “Basic diner food, but,” he grinned and tapped the menu with his index finger, “they have a bacon double cheeseburger and that is all I need in life.”

“Oh, that does sound good,” I nodded, feeling a bubble of hunger begin to rise in my stomach.

Nothing to be alarmed about, it had been about four hours since we had eaten breakfast and most of that time was spent traipsing around this small town looking for witchy clues, that took a lot of energy, I had merely burned it off.

Yet, I still felt conscious of the rumbles.

Shuffling in my seat, I wrapped my arms around my stomach and looked up at Sam, forcing a smile to mask my utterly ridiculous shame at being hungry like the average human.

“So, will you be clogging up your arteries with us?” I asked.

“No,” he chuckled, shaking his head with that cute dimpled smile of his, “I think I’ll stick to the chargrilled chicken salad.”

“One day we will get you to join us on the dark side again.”

“Hey, I eat junk too.”

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and grabbed the menu from Dean, who had been ogling the extremely photogenic burger.

Every picture they had looked gorgeous, truth be told.

Each thing made my growling stomach hunger more and the decision was becoming difficult, I wanted the hash browns, the waffles, the smoothies, the milkshakes even though I knew that I’d probably be more than sick if I tried to eat even three of those things one after another.

“Changing your mind?” Sam asked, looking down at me.

“Well, the chicken and bacon ceasar salad looks really good too.”

“You’re obsessed with those, I swear,” he laughed lightly.

“I know, they’re so nice, but I think I’ll go with Dean and stick with the burger with a side of fries and maybe a bit of salad on the side.”

“The lady has good tastes.”

I shook my head and wiggled the menu down in its plastic holder at the end of the table, leaning over Sam to reach my target.

As I leaned over, I took an almost involuntary glance at the window and spotted both Sam and myself in the reflection, as faint as the ghosts from stories.

Faint enough that I believed, but couldn’t be entirely sure, that I noticed Sam’s eyes dart from my hip to my ass and up a little again before they flickered up to look forward.

I’d have believed it was my imagination, had I not taken a second to look at Dean as I leaned back and noticed the almost smarmy expression he was giving his brother, who had gone silent and avoided his eyes by turning to look out the window.

“Right, well you lovebirds can order my food, I gotta take a natural.”

“With an egg on top?” I asked.

“Does a bear shit in the woods?”

Dean smiled as I laughed and Sam shook his head then pushed his chair back and got up, most likely giving the waitress a flirty look as he walked past the counter.

Leaning back in my seat with my fingers drumming the table, I looked up at Sam again and gave him a withered smile.

“Think we’ll ever break this?”

“I do,” he nodded, “we’ll find her and we’ll break the curse then things will go back to normal.”

“Great.”

I nodded my head in agreement with him, still drumming my fingers and alternating tugs on my lips between my teeth.

I wanted to believe Sam, but I had a terrible foreboding feeling that something was going to change.


	6. Chapter 6

A loud yell from next door jolted me awake and registered somewhere in the back of my groggy mind, sending my heart pounding with adrenaline.

Bolting to the door, I unlocked it and managed to stumble my way out without tripping over, stopping outside the room to my left. It was a good thing I’d bought fitting sleeping clothes too.

“Why the hell would you do that?” I heard from the other side.

It was Sam and he sounded pretty angry.

“I didn’t do anything,” was Dean’s response, voice laced with tiredness.

“Right, so it just cut itself, huh?”

“I don’t know, man, but it wasn’t me,”

With my curiosity peaked, I raised my hand and gave the door a rapid knock, which was followed by what sounded like urgent scrabbling inside and quiet mutterings that I could just about make out.

“It’s probably-”

“-eah, I know, don’t let her in.”

“Dude, she’ll see eventu-“

“Guys, come on, it’s cold out here,” I said with a sigh and a slight eyeroll.

There’s some more scuffling inside before the door finally opens to reveal a dishevelled Dean, who was leaning near halfway across the room in some unseen battle to get to the door.

I raised my eyebrow, looking at him as he gave me his boyishly charming smile.

“Good morning.”

“It would be if I hadn’t woken up to Sam screaming like a slasher victim.”

“That? Oh, it’s nothing to worry about.”

I gave him an unconvinced hum then nudged him aside to step inside, Dean having to stumble a little to one side as to not be knocked over by my admittedly rude entry.

Dean closed the door behind me then stepped beside me, folding his arms.

“May as well come out, Sammy, she ain’t leaving.”

Looking up at him, I notice that Dean’s eyes are trained on the bathroom door until he notices my state, then he instead gives me an amused smirk as the bathroom lock clicks open and a heavy sigh was heard as the door slowly creaked open.

Dean covered his mouth, trying hard but failing at covering his amused smile.

“This isn’t funny Dean,” Sam snapped, stepping out of the bathroom.

“You’re right,” he nodded, “it’s hilarious.”

Sam shot his brother the dirtiest bitch face I had ever witnessed before averting his eyes, my own widening in surprise.

“Oh, wow.”

“I know, okay,” he huffed.

“It looks fine,” I shrugged, staring at his hair, “just a little shorter than usual.”

Sam gawped at me, a strangled cough of a scoff escaping him.

The shorter style was taking a lot to get used to, Sam’s hair had only ever been varying version of a long mop in all the time I had known him and here he was, his hair closer to a Dean hairstyle than Sam and it was throwing everything out of whack.

It didn’t suit him, but it may grow on my tastes overtime.

Maybe.

“So, how does it feel?” I asked, trying not to snicker.

“I feel naked.”

“Thank god you’re not,” Dean grimaced.

“You don’t get to comment on this, this is your fault.”

“How is it my fault?” Dean asked, his voiced raising defensively as Sam reeled on him.

“You obviously did this in my sleep.”

“If it had been me, do you really think I would have tidied up the bits?”

There’s a pause as Sam turned towards the bed, taking a moment to inspect the white pillow before turning back to us, his mouth opening and then closing again when no reply came, his jaw tensing as he shook his head.

“Besides,” Dean continued, “if it were me, I’d have done it years ago, you’ve deserved it for long enough.”

“Okay, before you carry on,” I interjected, looking between the two, “can I make a suggestion?”

Bother brother share a look and then turn to me, a silent indication to go on.

“Maybe it’s the witch?”

“That would make sense,” Dean agreed, “more sense than me after all this time of being stuck with him.”

Sam looked thoughtful before nodding slowly, letting out another loaded sigh.

“‘You’ll all play’, guess I’m in the game.”

“Welcome,” I laughed softly, holding my arms open, “the game sucks.”

“It does,” he frowned, “but it’s a great temporary distraction.”

“But from what?” Dean chimed in, looking between us.


	7. Chapter 7

“It really doesn’t look that bad.”

Sam turned his head towards me, giving me a withered smile as my fingers twirled strands of his shortened hair around them.

With our current dead end we found ourselves temporarily out of ideas and with nothing to do but to twiddle our thumbs, in hopes that something spontaneous would come to us.

Hours later and we were still running on distracted blanks.

In the early evening, Dean had said that he had some calls to make and stepped out, the obvious lie not fooling either of us but was also not something we deemed worth commenting on.

I had reached forty minutes of alone time with Sam, which was spent in fluctuations of brief silences and short conversations which tended to lead nowhere, when I somehow found myself sidled up to him to play with his hair as he read a book of lore about the current town.

“Once you get used to it,” I added on.

“You think so?” He said like an uncertain teenager.

“Yes,” I laughed.

“But you don’t believe the same when I tell you?”

I stopped my twiddling and gave him a hard look.

“Hair and weight are two different things.”

Sam rolled his eyes a little but looked at me with a soft smile.

“I know that, but what I’m trying to say is that you look fine, I really think that bit of extra weight suits you, you honestly look great to me.”

I pulled away and stared at him, chewing on my lip as I mulled over his words and attempted to not look too deeply into them, even if I really hoped the connotation was there.

Neither brothers were known to hook-up with bigger girls, at least not that I was aware of and that was no foul on them, to each his own and the like.

However, knowing that fact didn’t stop the nagging thoughts of his words being nothing but meaningless comfort.

“You’re just saying that.”

“As you probably are about my hair.”

Looking at him, I opened my mouth to respond before letting it close again and letting out a huff through my nose.

“No,” was my weak argument.

He shook his head and looked me over, pausing for a moment before pushing himself up further in his seat with his too long legs.

“Here’s a bet, if I can lift you onto my lap, you have to stop mentioning your weight.”

I regarded him for a second, a little dumbfounded at the rather unconventional idea before licking my bottom lip before slowly nodding.

It was ridiculous but hilarious and there was no way I could refuse and lose a change at bearing witness to Sam testing his manliness, no matter how ludicrous the idea was.

“Okay, but if you fail then you have to let me style that new hair of yours.”

He laughed and agreed with a slight shrug, then his hands moved onto my wide hips so he could hoist me onto his lap.

With infuriating ease, it appeared.

As we adjusted to me sitting there, we stared at one another silently, the strange look in his eye making my heart speed up as comfort gradually became awkward the more we lingered.

I had never been good at reading situations, there was no doubt in my mind that I’d missed out on other opportunities over the years.

Was I meant to close the gap between? Or did he want to take the initiative and make the first move?

Was my breath okay after lunch? I don’t remember eating anything odorous.

The lingering moment was torturous, I didn’t have experience with this kind of thing so I wasn’t entirely sure what kind of move to make.

Sure, fantasies of things like this happening had played around and sometimes led much further when I was alone but being in the moment was different.

Feeling his fingers rubbing circles on my hip was completely different to how I imagined it would be and my brain completely faltered.

After a few seconds of prolonged silence that went on for far too long for my impatient brain, I cleared my throat and tore from our staring contest.

“All right,” I said, clearing my throat, “you wi-”

Sam’s hand moved from my hip to my cheek in such a flash that I could have blinked and missed the movement entirely, he used this moment of surprise to turn my head and lean in to connect our lips in a moment I knew I wouldn’t forget.

As if the memory of a giant of a hunter with cursed hair kissing me was something that could just slip away.

Things like this didn’t happen to me, even at my slimmest.

I simply had no game.

Never in my life did I ever think that someone like the Sam Winchester would be interested in me, especially not in my current state but here we were and I was dead wrong, not only the kissing with giving that away judging by what I felt against my leg.

Though that could also be my imagination, wishful thinking can lead to wild conclusions.

The kiss broke off as quickly as it had started and before it could get too passionate or intimate then I found myself merely staring at him, wide eyed and bemused.

“So, that happened,” I laughed softly, internally wincing at the feebleness.

“Yeah, I guess it did,” he nodded, smiling.

Another nervous laugh left me and I started to feel kind of stupid, like a teenager all over again who had no idea how to interact with a crush.

“We should probably continue trying to find that witch,” I said feebly, just barely noticing the fall in Sam’s expression before I tacked on, “so we can talk about where this can lead later without a case getting in the way.”

He looked up meet my eye and smiled again, just a little wider this time.

“Good idea, maybe she’s lingering around waiting for us to catch her at some bar.”

I snickered and shook my head at his sarcasm, fiddling with my sleeves as I continued to linger on his lap until finally deciding to move my ass so he could get up.

Quickly pecking his cheek, I slid off his lap and stood up to have a large stretch, being sure to purposefully arch my back just enough to subtly push out my butt for him to catch a glance.

“Let me grab you a wig and we can head out.”

“Hey,” he protested loudly as I turned to him, grinning, “you’ll pay for that.”

“Which part?”

“I’ll leave that up for you to decide.”


	8. Chapter 8

It came as no surprise to either of us that Dean’s ‘calls’ had led him to a nearby bar, parked up and inside drinking his time away.

We had only been walking for around ten minutes before we spotted the car parked outside a homely looking bar, the typical small-town dive where locals went to drink and have a gossip about the happenings at work and nothing more, as that would undoubtedly get back to the person and cause the entire ecosystem to break apart.

Idyllic, some would say.

“You want to head inside?” Sam asked, looking down at me.

I smiled and shook my head, “No thank you, I’m really not in the drinking crowd mood.”

“Guess I should, just to make sure he doesn’t try driving back drunk.”

“Why did he even drive here in the first place?”

Sam shrugged with a light laugh, “I wouldn’t want to know.”

“Okie dokie, you check on him, I think I’ll just walk back.”

He nodded, looking at me with a concerned smile.

“Just be careful, okay?”

“I’ve been a hunter for long enough Sam, I’ll be fine for the lengthy trip of ten minutes back to the motel room.”

“Hey, a lot can happen in ten minutes.”

I rolled my eyes and nudged his shoulder, giving him the most serious look I could muster.

“You’re so overprotective.”

“With reason.”

“Maybe so, but I know enough to watch my ass just as I know to check for hex bags if anything weird starts happening to any of us,” I smiled, putting my hands on my hips, “I’ve been a hunter long enough to know this stuff.”

“I’ll still worry.”

“As I’d expect, but I’m not some weak chick who is going to stand there yelling at you like some damsel rather than taking action like any seasoned hunter should,” I tilted my head and clicked my tongue, “speaking of hex bags though, I will check the car over while you go inside.”

“Good idea.”

“I know.”

We lingered awkwardly for a couple of seconds, simply sharing a look before he finally cleared his throat and turned away, one hand running through his shorter hair as had become his habit, as if he still couldn’t believe its length now.

I watched him with a smile, feeling better than I had in months as I watched him walk towards the building.

Being friends with Sam was already something I found a great privilege, it was more than I could ask for no matter how much of a crutch it may be to befriend the Winchesters but never did I think that may little crush would become anything but a mere fantasy.

Though it was just a kiss, it meant so much to me.

I shook myself from my Winchester reverie and turned towards the car, almost as if on cue as something moving near the car caught my eye just as I pivoted.

For a few beats, I stood still and watched a head bobbing beside Baby, ducking in and out of sight with occasional look arounds before they ducked under sight for a little longer.

I waited to see how long they stayed hidden before making a wide circle around the car.

Luckily one thing I found after my curse was that despite the weight gain, I was still rather light on my feet and could keep my scuffing to a minimum, something that I’d been playfully teased about a few times.

It had even gotten to the point where the term ‘Castieling’ was coined for it.

I managed to create a wide enough circle to sneak up behind her, all attention focused heavily on the rear right tyre of the Impala.

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t feel a surge of pride in myself at managing to sneak up on her, the yelp of surprise as I grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back to pin her against the Impala was extremely satisfying, the other arm soon being pinned above the other.

“Having fun?” I asked, smiling like the cat that caught the canary, perhaps giving her a too harsh shove against the car to wind her just a little more.

She grunted at the force and attempted to look at me over her shoulder, struggling against my tightening hold.

“The more you resist, the longer you’ll be held here.”

Despite the defiant glare aimed my way, she still relaxed and let out a harsh huff, pouting her painted lips.

“Don’t think I need that hex bag to hit the other one, I’ve already got him.”

“So be it, we’ll deal with that later.”  
I pulled her away from the car and stepped beside her, pointing towards where she had just been crouching.

“Hex bag, get it. Now.”

She shot me another glare before rolling her eyes and crouching down as I let go of one of her arms.

Reaching beneath the car again, she plucked out the bag with ease and held it up to me like a stropping teenager, her lips pursed tightly.

“Atta girl,” I said while taking the bag from her, looking it over in the dim streetlight.

“I’m not a dog,” she sniped.

“No, but while you’re here and we have questions, you’re officially our bitch.”


	9. Chapter 9

“So,” Dean said, crossing his arms as he stood above the bound girl, “you going to start talking?”

“Not planning on it,” she sneered, giving him a powerful glower.

I wouldn’t say it aloud, but it was impressive to see it coming from such an adorable face.

“Look,” Sam reasoned with his best placating smile, “the sooner we get this sorted, the sooner you can leave.”

“Yeah,” she drawled out, “because you Winchesters are known for being merciful.”

“We are to those who aren’t complete dicks, so unless you’re Gabriel, you should be fine,” Dean smirked jeeringly.

“I don’t know who that is.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, “Look, that isn’t important, what’s important is that you fix this mess and then tell us what you know about the dead people.”

She seemed to pause, looking between us with raised eyebrows before snorting out a laugh.

“You’re kidding, right? This is a big prank.”

We all stood there, faces set in stone as we allowed the truth to sink in, which took a little longer than we anticipated.

I shot a glance at Sam, who returned my look with a slight roll of his eyes as we waited for the cogs to finally clink into place.

“It’s not a prank,” she finally said, her face dropping.

“It’s not a prank,” Dean repeated matter-of-factly.

“Oh my god.”

“Glad to see you’ve finally clocked on,” I smiled faintly, trying to be the good cop to Dean’s bad cop.

“Look, I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said breathlessly, looking between us all with an expression of pure desperation. In fact, it almost looked like she had tears building in her eyes.

“Really?” Dean said disbelievingly, “because there sure have been some weird happenings that you appear to be at the center of, you were found literally in the middle of placing a hex bag.”

She shook her head, chest beginning to heave as the tears started to slip down her cheeks and she worried her bottom lip between her teeth, being mindful of the snakebite on one side.

“N-No, I didn’t…I wouldn’t…I can’t,” she took a shuddering breath in an attempt to calm her growing sobs. “Look, I just gave you some light curses, easy and simple stuff, I was just finishing up a spell to stop him from eating his precious junk food, that’s all!”

Dean seemed to pause for a moment, looking at her incredulously.

“What?”

“But I didn’t hurt anyone. I promise, I could never.”

“Hey, calm down,” Sam said as he took a step forward, hands out to show he wasn’t going to hurt her, “it’s okay.”

“How is it okay?! You have me tied up and talking about murder!”

She started to rock in the chair, looking at though she were trying to break free of her bonds.

We all shared another look and in the end, I let out a long sigh and indicated for them both to leave the room with a nod of my head and a glance towards the door.

Sam appeared as if he were going to protest, but instead merely nodded and gave me a smile that I knew meant he trusted me with this.

He stepped away and patted Dean’s shoulder, a silent but clear indication to do as asked.

Dean shot a brief glance my way as if to double check that I was sure then left with no further protests.

Once the door clicked closed I approached her, crouched down and rested my hands atop her knees, waiting for her to relax enough to take some deep breaths and settle down her crying.

This took a few minutes, but once she was done with her rocking she looked at me, eyes a little red and bottom lip trembling.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” I smiled, “can you tell me your name?”

Lifting her head, she met my eyes and she sniffled, I tried to ignore the bit of snot running from her nostril.

“Camille.”

“What a lovely name,” I nodded, standing back up. “So, I’ll tell you what Camille, I will untie you if you agree to talk with me calmly, okay?”

Camille sniffled again but nodded her head in agreement, giving me an almost relieved smile.

“Okay, thank you.”


	10. Chapter 10

“So, do you wish to explain yourself?”

Camille looked up from her drink, her mug was tightly grasped between her hands to try and stop them from shaking so much.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at me and then let it out in a long sigh.

“I swear I didn’t know about the deaths,” she started shakily, her leg beginning to bounce.

“I can tell, but you’ve really incriminated yourself with what you’ve been doing.”

“I get that now but at the time it was just some fun, something harmless to keep you out of my hair.”

“Harmless? Really?”

“Yeah, what’s some hair and some weight?”

I stared at her then shook my head, letting out a long breath through my nose as I closed my eyes.

“You are messing with people’s appearances and securities.”

“Temporarily yeah, to keep you off our back.”

“Our?”

Camille looked at me sheepishly, shuffling in her seat.

“I was trying to throw you off the trail of someone, who also isn’t the killer, I know that for sure.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, raising my eyebrow.

“No really, she’s totally lovely and wouldn’t hurt a fly,” she smiled wistfully at her linked hands.

My eyebrows rose and I found myself smiling, not that she was looking at me to notice.

I shifted in my seat and rest my hands in my lap, trying to ignore the plush feeling coming from my thighs and the crevices the slight rolls from bending created in my jeans.

“I see,” I drawled slowly, an obvious hinting edge in my voice as if we were best friends having a little gossip, “so who is she?”

“I’m not telling you,” she recovered quickly, looking at me, “don’t think we don’t know about you, everyone knows about the Winchesters.”

I leaned back, holding my hands up.

“I just wanted to know about the girl you seemed sweet on, nothing more.”

“So you can go and accuse her too?”

“Not at all,” I shrugged, “more so we can talk to her and maybe see if she knows anyone who wants to hurt people, not lead them off a trail by shifting everything they know.”

Camille stared at me then scoffed and looked away, fiddling with the nails on one hand.

“How do you know I’m sweet on her anyway?”

“Please,” I snickered, rolling my eyes, “believe it or not I did go to school, I’ve seen that look on many girl’s faces.”

She huffed a small laugh and chewed on her lip, her eyes drifting to her hands.

“You’re nicer than I thought you’d be, considering what I’ve done to you.”

“Yeah,” I nodded slowly, “about that…”

“Her name is Naomi,” she started, ignoring my lead in, “she works in the local coffee place, I can take you there but you have to promise me that you won’t push her too hard, she’s sensitive.”

Placing my hand atop her shoulder, I give her a smile to hide my irritation at my question being looked over.

“We will do our best to keep her comfortable, we just want to ask some questions.”

“You promise?”

“Of course, as long as you promise to tell us all you know as well.”

She nodded slowly then shrugged a little.

“I honestly don’t know much, I’m still a beginner.”

“Well, you seem to be able to hit the right places for a beginner.”

Admittedly, my tone came out a little snippier than I had intended for it and Camille definitely noticed, but we both seemed to find it best that we ignore it for the moment.

“Like that matters anyway, the big one doesn’t seem to care all that much.”

My eyebrow quirked as I stare at her, mouth pressed into a thin line as words failed me for retort.

“Excuse me?” I finally said, feeling as dumb as I sounded.

Camille’s face lightened up as she smiled, even if it was only faintly there.

“Come on, you can’t tell me you can hunt things most people don’t see but can’t tell when someone is into you?”

I stared at her then shook my head, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

“He’s not into me, now how about we go for a little walk and you can show me where Naomi is.”

Camille shrugged again, standing up.

“Not sure she’ll like hunters knocking on her door at this time of night.”

“Trust me,” I stand up beside her, stretching my arms above my head, “it could be a hell of a lot worse.”


	11. Chapter 11

The door was wrenched open and a dishevelled amazon of a woman greeted us, first with a smile and then with a faltered look of disappointment and uncertainty.

“Um, yeah?” She asked, her eyes flickering between the shorter witch and myself.

“Hey,” I smiled, patting Camille’s shoulder, “Naomi, right?”

Naomi stood up straight as her jaw tensed, reminding me of a typical Sam reaction for a flickering moment, her eyes hardening as she stared Camille down.

“Yes,” she answered cautiously.

“Great, I think you know why I’m here.”

From the corner of my eye I noticed Camille cower away a little, her mouth moving in what I assumed to be a sheepish apology to the one glaring daggers at her.

“I suppose I do,” Naomi finally said through gritted teeth.

“Excellent, so mind letting us in?”

“Now?” She scoffed an incredulous laugh, “do you know what time it is?”

“I’m fully aware,” I replied, my face setting seriously, “but this is important, people are dying.”

We stare at each other for an uncomfortably long time before she finally breaks the tension, looking away from me with a loaded sigh while stepping to one side.

“Fine, come in.”

I looked to Camille as Naomi set to one side, holding my hand out to her to indicate that she was welcome to go in ahead of me.

Neither of them acknowledged me as they walked down the hallway, presumably to the living room, muttering to themselves while leaving me to come inside and close the door behind myself.

It didn’t particularly bother me, being an unwelcome guest left behind meant that it gave me a chance to double check the protection mark Sam had drawn on my arm after finding it in a book he had acquired, though he wouldn’t tell me how.

This was a desperate attempt to try and keep me safe while in the stranger’s house, but whether it would work or not was a completely different matter, Sam had only been able to give me a slight shrug and a less than reassuring smile.

Were I religious, I would have crossed myself before stepping down the hall to meet the two girls, who had already perched themselves on the edge of the couch, ready for an interrogation.

\---

“Okay, so if this chick isn’t our witch, then that narrows us down by two people out of how many in this town?”

Dean looked to Sam with utter annoyance, like a cranky child who missed nap time and was still being kept up beyond their bedtime.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked, looking at his brother in concern, shifting a little on the spot.

“Honestly? No, I hate witches.”

Sam scoffed a laugh and shook his head, looking at the quiet street around them.

“I know, you never fail to tell me every time a witch case comes up.”

“Yeah, because something always happens when witches are involved, as far as I’m concerned, we’ve got off lucky so far.”

“In the grand scheme of things,” Sam nodded, “missing junk food yet?”

“Every second I breathe.”

He smiled in amusement and shrugged lightly.

“With any luck the curses will be lifted tonight and you can gorge yourself in the morning while we do the rest of the work.”

“That would be great, I could really go for some greasy bacon right about now.”

“Now you’re making me hungry.”

“It’s okay for you,” Dean shifted on the spot much like Sam had, crossing his legs as he rested his back against the impala. “So, you gonna take advantage of the extra cushion before the curses are lifted?”

Sam looked down at Dean with slightly widened eyes, his eyebrows raised.

“What?”

“You know, put those hips t-”

“Yeah, I got what you meant, that isn’t what I was getting at.”

They both look at one another, a silent conversation passing between them both before Dean shrugged and broke the moment.

“Just saying.”

Sam rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to either protest or resign, only to be cut off by a shriek of utter terror and the clacking of heels against pavement.

Both brothers jumped away from the car, ready for an encounter as a blonde girl ran down the street, her eyes widened in horror as she neared them, a streetlight mere feet away highlighting grotesque boils bubbling up her bare arms.

Another figure stood shadowed at the end of the street, watching on before taking off in another direction.


	12. Chapter 12

“What the hell happened?” I yelled as I ran over to Sam, who was crouched to the ground with a woman who was writhing in pain cradled in his arms.

Sam looked up at me and then towards the street, where someone was running as if their life depended on it, followed by a speedy shadow that could only be Dean.

“She’s been attacked, we think it’s them.”

“The witch?” I frowned as he nodded then rolled my eyes, “Seriously? Now?”

“Yeah, Dean’s chasing them down.”

The woman stared up towards the sky with a look of absolute agony, her chest shuddering as she took painstaking breaths that seemed to be laboured while boils bubbled up over her face.

I suspected that there was more to them than what was appearing on the outside and that was leading to her issues in breathing, but I couldn’t be entirely certain.

“We need to get her to a hospital,” Sam said in a panic, holding her in his arms as he stood up, causing her to whine in pain.

“I really don’t think they can help,” I frowned.

“Mostly not, but they can at least try to open her airways and give her oxygen.”

Stepping to the rear door, I held it open for Sam so that he could carefully but urgently set her on the backseat before closing the door and jumping to the driver’s door.

“I’ll stay here and talk to the girls, see if they know the victim.”

“Good idea,” he nodded, “I’ll get back here as soon as I can.”

“Call me, let me know what happens at the hospital.”

“You got it.”

Sam hopped into the driver’s seat and was off like a shot, my guessing could only be that Dean had either left the keys in the ignition as they were staying beside the car or he had chucked them towards Sam right before he ran after the witch, knowing that Sam would likely go the care route.

I watched the Impala disappear around a bend on the street then turned back towards the house, striding inside with a new vigour.

“What happened?” Camille asked as I stepped inside, closing the door behind me. “That looked like Abbi, is she okay?”

“Abbi?” I replied, looking between the two.

“She’s one of us, guess you guys would class it as a ‘coven’, even though that’s not really what it is,” Naomi said with a frown, her eyes flickering between the window and me.

“Then what would you class it as?”

“We say we’re more mentor and underlings,” she laughed, coming across as more nervous than humoured.

“Right,” I nodded slowly, licking my bottom lip, “and you didn’t think to mention this before?”

“It didn’t seem relevant,” Camille replied quietly.

I actually felt my brain short circuit in that moment, the cogs grinding loudly in my ears as they stopped and I found myself only able to stare at them both with my mouth dropped open in shock.

Eventually, my system rebooted and I let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“You guys are two slices short of a sandwich.”

They shared a look of helplessness, the fear becoming more noticeable between the two as the air grew thick.

I waited for one of them to say something, instead they appeared to wish to take the denial route and turned into schoolgirls facing their principle for the first time.

This was going to be like pulling teeth.

“Okay,” I said, turning on my stern face, “you’re going to sit down and tell me everything you can, get it?”

Both nodded, Camille shifting on her feet before moving to sit down on her couch, her hands wringing together.

“First, I need to know if you can help her in some way?”

“Um, maybe?” Naomi replied, moving to sit beside Camille, taking her hands in her own to give them an encouraging squeeze. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

“Good,” I nodded, putting my hands on my plump hips, “then once we’re done here, we’ll go to the hospital and work your magic there, it’s too risky here.”

“Okay,” Naomi nodded, letting go of Camille’s hands to instead wrap an arm around her, “we’ll answer whatever you need."


	13. Chapter 13

“Okay, tell me what you’ve got.”

I leaned back in the seat, one leg crossed over the other and phone pressed to my ear.

“It’s not great but they’ve managed to get her intubated,” Sam replied, though I could hear the worried edge in his voice.

“Well that’s good at least,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Yeah, they say we just barely made it but they still need to run tests on how extensive it is.”

“As in if it’s affecting her insides?”

“Pretty much, they’re worried they’ll be taking over her organs.”

“Great, it seems they like to keep your organs in potential danger,” I said while narrowing my eyes, shooting a look towards the two witches huddle over a book on the opposite side of the room.

Sam let out a short laugh.

“It’s not that bad, you look fine.”

I flustered for a couple of seconds, unable to stop a gentle smile from taking over my initial frustrated frown.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah,” he paused and let the moment before clearing his throat. “Anyway, any update on your end?”

“No major breakthrough, they think they may be able to work some magic and help Abbi but it’s only a maybe, I also think it’s best they perform whatever spell they have in the hospital room, supervised by one of us.”

Sam let out a long breath as voices passed him in the background.

I could picture him standing outside in the dark, watching them go past before turning away to shield the conversation.

“Might be an idea, anything on Dean?”

“No, we’ll be heading out shortly to look for him?”

“We? All three of you?”

“I’ve made it pretty clear to them that I still don’t trust them, especially given that their head witch seems to be on a murderous rampage against her own underlings.”

“Understandable, okay, give me a call when you leave, yeah?”

“You got it.”

“Great, be careful.”

“You too.”

Pulling the phone away, I hung up and then tucked it back onto my jacket pocket, directing my attention towards the two women who were now watching me with small smirks.

“Don’t give me that look.”

“Come on,” Camille said with a sly smile, “I knew our little trick would be a hit.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, “Not with me it isn’t, thanks for the repeat trauma and death of my self-esteem.”

“Bu-”

“No, no buts, and or ifs, you better fix this when the main issue is over, it doesn’t matter what Sam thinks about it.”

They both shared a look that I couldn’t quite decipher, but I didn’t like it either way.

“Oh, you can also give Dean his luxuriously bad diet back, it’s obvious the distractions aren’t working.”

“It got some of the other hunters off our back,” Naomi shrugged, leaning back in her seat.

“Yeah well, in case you haven’t heard, we’re not other hunters and you lot aren’t the worst witches we’ve dealt with but you’re our problem now.”

My little tirade is interrupted by a rapid knock on the door, which has the witches looking at each other in panic as they both stand up.

“It could be the head,” Naomi said.

Camille stood silently, staring towards the drawn curtains while wringing her hands.

“Or,” I drawled out while standing myself, “it could be Dean.”

I looked towards the door, worrying my lip between my teeth before nodding in resolution.

“You should answer it, I’ll find somewhere to stand out of the way in case it’s her.”

Naomi nodded and then strode past me.

I spared a glance towards Camille who watched over her while worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, then I stepped into the kitchen and pressed myself against the wall beside the doorway.

It had already been quite a night and I wasn’t in the mood to linger around on this case, yet it seemed to be going deeper than we had thought with both benign witches and a mentor set out to kill.

Dean was right, witches really were the worst.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short filler chapter to get us from point A to point B.

Luck was finally on my side as Dean walked through the door, looking pissed off and ready for a fight.

“Bitch got away,” he shook his head, looking less than impressed.

“But you came back safe and that’s what matters,” I nodded.

“Yeah, any news from Sam?”

“Just that he’s at the hospital and it’s very touch and go.”

“Right,” he sighed, looking to the two witches. “You two have any bright ideas?”

Naomi and Camille shared a look, Camille then looked down and shuffling her feet.

“We were going to go to the hospital and work on a reversal spell,” she answered.

“You can do that?” Dean replied.

“Maybe,” Naomi sighed, “we won’t know until we try, we’re still apprentices.”

“Right, so you can curse people but not save a life, that’s great.”

“Dean,” I said, looking at him, “they’re at least trying, we have to give them that.”

He returned my look then let out a long sigh, “I know, I’m just pissed, I had her right there.”

“We’ll get her,” I smiled at him, “we’ll get her, fix everything and hopefully anyone that’s been cursed.”

He gave me an unconvincing smile then turned his attention back to the others.

“One of you can drive us to the hospital, right?”

“Totally,” Naomi nodded with a thumbs up, “we need to go there anyway to work our magic.”

“Okay, grab what you need and we’ll get going.”

The two left the room and left me standing with Dean, who looked about ready to have a long sleep.

I couldn’t blame him with the way a simple interrogation had become a scene from a cop drama, chasing down the perp and racing a victim to hospital.

The joys of the hunt.

“You think we can trust them?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know, I’d like to say yes but we both know how often that’s shot a hunter in the foot.”

He let out a long sigh and took out his phone.

“I’ll text Sam, let him know we’ll be on our way soon.”

“We hope.”

Dean looked towards where the girls had retreated then turned back to me.

“I won’t trust them but I trust your judgement, do you think they’ll be any use?”

I shrugged, “If they heal as well as they curse then potentially.”

“I miss burger so damn much,” he sighed dramatically.

Shaking my head with a smile, I shifted from foot to foot.

“Not pie?”

“Figured that would go without saying.”

Habitually covering my mouth to laugh, I turned away from him and took in the barely decorated living room, though if that was by design or through lack of funds to afford decorations I wasn’t sure and it wasn’t my place to know.

We only had to wait five minutes before they returned, Naomi clutching a large handbag in her hands.

“Okay, she said, “we’re ready if you are.”

I looked to Dean who gave me an agreeing nod.

“It seems we are, let’s go.”

“Wait,” Camille squeaked, “will we be able to get in? It’s after visiting hours.”

“We’ll get you in,” Dean said resolutely, “this isn’t our first rodeo.”

Camille looked to Naomi with a soft frown then let out a long sigh, “Okay.”

“Good,” Dean said, “just remember, no funny business.”

We followed the girls outside into the chilled night, waiting for Naomi to lock her front door before being led to her car.

Dean shot me a look as she unlocked an orange and white mini then rolled his eyes and climbed into the back, obviously uneasy about being the passenger in a car that was nowhere near as powerful as his precious Baby.

I could only snicker and shuffle in beside him, conscience of the space my hips alone would take up in the thing.

To keep myself scarce I put on my seatbelt and then pressed myself up against the car door, worried that I’d somehow take up half the seat despite knowing that it was a stupid fear.

Naomi and Camille clipped themselves in and we were off to the hospital, hoping to every fibre of our beings that the poor girl could be helped.


	15. Chapter 15

“Hey.”

I looked up from my spot on the bench and smiled, my hands still clasped between my knees as I turned my attention to two people in scrubs walking by.

Whether it was thanks to the near empty roads due to the time of night or the fact that Naomi didn’t seem to know what a brake was, we had made it to the hospital in just over twenty minutes.

Dean rushed the girls inside with their gear while I lingered outside, deciding that four people was already plenty enough for the hospital to deal with.

We already had a tendency to raise suspicions and draw attention to ourselves at the worst of times, now wasn’t the best time to test our luck by enforcing too much stress on thinly stretched hospital staff.

Sam took a seat beside me, his long legs sticking out comically thanks to the shortness of the bench both in height and seat width.

“Hi,” I smiled softly. “I take it they both got in okay.”

“You know how it is, flash some credentials and you can get away with nearly anything if you’re slick enough.”

“If there’s one thing you and Dean are, it’s slick.”

Sam laughed and gave a little shrug.

“You get used to it after so many years.”

I let out a small hum, nodding slowly as my eyes trailed over the people coming and going from the parking lot.

The typical background noises filled the area around us and I found myself being lulled into a barely there state, the chill in the air and the late hours catching up to me.

I hadn’t realised just how tired I was until that moment.

Sam’s leg bumped against mine, drawing my attention to him, my eyes feeling heavy.

“You okay?” He asked, looking concerned.

“Mhmm,” I said slowly, “just suddenly feel really tired.”

“I’m sure all the action of getting here is catching up to you.”

I laughed, shaking my head as I leaned my back against the wood panels behind us.

“It was quite exhilarating, I think we must have ran about five red lights.”

“Just the five?”

“Yeup, or at least I stopped counting after the fifth.”

We both laughed, though mine was cut off abruptly by a wide yawn.

Instinctively, I covered my mouth until it was over and had a few jaw stretches before deciding that Sam’s shoulder would make a wonderful pillow.

Sliding down without an invitation, I nuzzled into place and let my eye fall closed, presuming that I was welcome as he hadn’t made a sound of protest.

“We’ll get you back to the motel,” he said, his voice rumbling a little more from my vantage point.

“Are we waiting for Dean?”

He took in a deep breath then shifted, making me look up to see that he’d turned his own attention towards the hospital.

“No, we’re going back ahead of him, he’s staying here to keep an eye on them and make sure their head witch doesn’t come to spring a surprise attack.”

“Will he be okay alone?” I frowned slightly then instantly felt stupid for asking.

He was Dean freaking Winchester, he’d fend off some witches and a couple of ghouls on top of that.

Or so he’d like to think.

“Forget it,” I shook my head, pulling away from Sam, “I apparently can’t think logically at the moment.”

Sam smiled at me, letting out a little chuckle, “All the more reason to get you to bed.”

“Mm…yeah, that might be an idea.”

He stood up from the bench, turning toward me to offer a hand.

I gratefully took it and let him pull me up, letting out a tired groan as he did so.

“Someone is feeling like a drama queen tonight.”

I laughed, looking up at him with a purposefully goofy smile.

“Let me have my moment, Winchester.”

“Just this once,” he laughed, “but only because I’m too tired to argue.”

“Yeah, witches will do that to you.”

“Among too many other things.”

I scoffed a chuckle and nodded in agreement, also giving a light shrug.

“Such is the life of a hunter.”

Sliding my gradually chilling hands into my jacket pockets, I looked up at him and found myself just staring, falling into utter awe of the man in front of me.

“You know,” I eventually said, “even though you don’t like it and even though my opinion doesn’t matter on it in the long run, the short hair suits you.”

He paused for a moment then smiled.

“Thank you, I can say the same about you.”

Despite my reservations about myself, I found myself unable to stop the smile that got wider, making my cheeks ache.

“And thank you, Sam, that genuinely means a lot.”

Part of me felt a little embarrassed, as though I had slipped into an episode of horror Grey’s Anatomy or paranormal The Good Doctor as we shared what others would most likely deem a ‘moment’ outside of the hospital.

The other part of me simply didn’t care, this was a moment I had always wanted with Sam.

It felt different, bonding and completely right.

Too bad there were witches inside and a potentially dying girl in the back of our minds to ruin the mood, but that’s the life of a hunter and you have to take the good where you could get it.


	16. Chapter 16

Although we slid into straight into bed the minute the motel room door was locked, barely managing to shuffle out of our clothes and too tired to care that the other was in the room, I found that sleep was still evading me.

I was worried about Dean back at the hospital, concerned about lifting the curse and fretting over who could be next on the head honcho’s kill list.

Physically I felt exhausted and had been ready to call it a night, but as soon as I settled into bed my mind started sprouting every single thought it could have under the sun.

Unfortunately for hunters, nights like this were all too common.

It was rare that we would get a full night of restful sleep, even in a place as safe as the bunker.

Sure, it was secure, but it had proven to be less than impenetrable and we would always have to sleep with one eye open.

Rolling over in bed, I looked towards Sam, who had his back facing me and could have been sound asleep.

I had been lying awake for so long that my eyes had adjusted to the dark, making it easy to make out at least some of the details of his back, which was strangely hypnotising to look at.

Why was everything about this man gorgeous?

Letting out another sigh, I shuffled again in the bed with the hopes that a different position would lead to the comfort I needed for rest.

“Can’t sleep, huh?”

Sam’s voice was quiet but the silence of the room amplified it enough to be heard, it always astounded me how louder things were during the night, even with my years of hunting at the midnight hour.

“No,” I replied just as softly, “I take it you can’t either.”

“Seems not,” he said, lifting himself up on an elbow to turn to face me. “Mind if I come over?”

My heart jolted and I almost sputtered on a breath that got caught in my throat.

This was new.

“Oh, sure,” I nodded, clearing my throat as I shuffled back in the bed to make room for him.

Sam’s looming shadow moved closer and then the bed dipped as he sat down on the edge, taking a minute before standing back up to lift the covers and climb under with me instead.

My heart started racing, I hadn’t expected him to do that.

Not that I was complaining, this was perfectly fine.

I could keep my cool.

“This has been a pretty messy case, huh?” He said quietly, as though Dean were still sleeping in the room.

“Yeah, it’s definitely been a rollercoaster.”

“How are you feeling about things now?”

I licked my lower lip and let out a long sigh through my nose.

“I can’t say that I’m pleased yet, but I’m gradually adjusting.”

“Good, I hate seeing you so…uncomfortable.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m not uncomfortable, just that I’m getting used to it.”

Sam nodded slowly and reached out to brush some hair from my face, the unexpected contact making me flinch.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I laughed softly, “that was my tired brain deciding to be a dick.”

“And yet you’re still not sleeping.”

“No, it seems my body is as much of a jerk as my brain.”

“The life of a hunter, right?”

“Unfortunately too right.”

Another silence fell between us and my eyes finally started to droop, sleep pleasantly dulling my senses and making the world around me gradually numb.

As I slipped away, the bed shifted and warm arms pulled me into an even warmer chest, fingers playing with the hair at the back of my head as Sam held me to him.

Eventually, one of my arms slid around his waist and clasped a handful of shirt at his back.

He rested his chin against the top of my head and let out a small, content sigh through his nose.

Safe and warm, I finally slipped away for a few hours of sleep.


End file.
